US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew on Tuesday said that Washington was “ready to welcome” the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), easing toward the new development institution after the US expressed early concerns.
Lew said in a San Francisco speech just after a trip to Beijing that the US would embrace any new international development bank providing it “complements” existing institutions like the World Bank and the IMF.
He also stressed that new institutions needed to “share the international community’s strong commitment to genuine multilateral governance and decisionmaking, and ever-improving lending standards and safeguards,” according to his prepared speech.
China and 20 other countries signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the Beijing-based bank in October last year.
Washington, worried about a China-dominated AIIB cutting into the work of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank at first sought to persuade its allies to hold off from joining the new bank.
However, in recent weeks most European powers and other leading economies have signed on to the new institution, guaranteeing it a strong capital base and isolating the US’ position.
That has left Washington appearing isolated in not wholeheartedly welcoming Beijing’s creation.
Speaking at the northern California chapter of the Asia Society, Lew said he was encouraged that Chinese leaders “made clear that they aspire to meet high standards and welcome partnership.”
“Our consistent focus on standards has already had an impact and, as lending begins, the test will be the character of the projects funded and their impact on the people and countries they serve,” Lew said.
If the AIIB works with existing institutions to finance infrastructure projects around Asia, Lew said, it “will help demonstrate a commitment to the highest standards of governance, environmental and social safeguards, and debt-sustainability.”
Lew still did not let on if the US would join the AIIB.
He made clear Washington still supports the mission of the World Bank, the IMF and other older regional development banks, and is concerned about how Beijing will proceed with a new institution poised somewhat as a rival to those.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
RSS